Coming Through
by how-i-met-my-otp
Summary: A Tick Tick Tick AU. What if it was Robin who saw Barney throwing away those rose petals instead of Ted? Will be multi-chapter and emotional.
1. Chapter 1

Robin was flooded with guilt the moment she entered the bar, to see Barney with such a loving look in his eyes. It was only seconds later that the light in his eyes vanished, his smile straightening.

_I'm sorry. _She wanted to say, knowing the words would not be enough. She looked back into is sad eyes, full of regret. She wanted to hide, to close her eyes or look away so that she could spare herself from his wounded expression. And so instead, Robin responded in the only way she could: subtly shaking her head.

She tried desperately to tell herself she had made the right decision, the one that was best for her, for both of them. Kevin loved her. And he was safe and caring and stable. But as she watched Barney stand at the bar struggling to pull the smile back to his lips, she realized that he loved her too. Maybe even more.

He had ended his relationship with Nora, probably the healthiest one he's had, for her. He had risked heartbreak for her, put it all on the line. She hated her apparent inability to do the same for him.

"I'm going to head out." Robin snapped back to the present, her thoughts moments behind in one that seemed to have lasted a little too long. She was sitting at the regular booth with the gang, with the exception of Barney, who was inches to her right, about to go home.

"I'm so sorry." She finally allowed herself to say, realizing that she was right before. Those words weren't enough.

"Don't be. Rough night." He turned and left.

For the second time that night, Robin found herself lost in a moment, lingering behind in the final glimpse she had of him before he stepped outside. It hurt to see him so broken down, ushering himself out so quietly. Without his usual air of confidence, the ever-suave look in his eyes, he looked like a different man entirely.

"What do you think happened between Barney and Nora?" Lily interrupted Robin's thoughts, pulling her back to the conversation to which she had been paying no attention, with the sheer mention of his name.

"No idea," Ted replied. "You guys don't think he cheated on her, do you?"

"Maybe." Marshall took a swig of his drink, "I wouldn't be that surprised."

"I would be!" Lily raised her voice, "I mean, Barney's been different lately. He's growing up and I think he's developed real feelings for her."

Marshall considered this, "I don't know. Robin, what do you think it was?"

"Yeah," Lily realized, "didn't you split a cab with him last night?"

"He didn't mention anything about Nora." Robin pulled her focus away from her drink to answer. At least she didn't have to lie. "Actually, um, I think I'm going to go home."

"Is everything okay?" Ted asked.

"Of course." She forced a weak smile before leaving the bar, and walking up stairs to her apartment.

…

There were candles and rose petals scattered throughout the room. Robin peaked in through a crack in the door to see Barney, garbage bag in hand, blowing out one of the candles on her bedside table. She thought about turning to walk away. Confrontation was more than she wanted to deal with at the moment. After all, it had been a long night, and there had already been more than enough pain.

She watched him sit down on the edge of her bed, burying his head in his hands. Robin couldn't take it anymore. She opened the door, and he turned to face her.

"Robin," He spoke softly. She had arrived home earlier than he had anticipated, and the guilt he had been trying to save her from filled every empty space in her bedroom. "This um, it's nothing. I was just…"

Robin was speechless. Barney shook his head, unsure of what else to say. He had rushed back here as soon as he left the bar in order to try and clean up what he had left for her. As hurt as he was by her decision, he respected it. And the last thing he wanted was for her to come home and realize how serious he had been. He didn't want her to feel guilty for not loving him.

"I should go." He scooped up the rest of the rose petals, stuffing them into the garbage bag and tried to move past Robin without lifting his head enough to look her in the eye.

"Wait." Her hand found his shoulder, the other taking the bag from his.

He stood expectantly, but neither had anything to say. Nothing that could be put into words.

"Do you want a drink?" Robin asked quietly.

Barney thought about brushing her off, but a drink did sound good. "Yeah, sure." He nodded, before moving to the living room.

She poured them each a scotch, sitting down on the couch beside him. He glared at the tiny sliver of space between their thighs, thinking how unfair it was of her to ever so casually sit so close to him after all that had happened. But as he knew, it was instinct.

"It's okay, you know." He finally said, "I mean, I get it. And I want things to be okay between us. I just wish you had said something."

"I didn't know what to say." She admitted.

"You could've just told me that you didn't feel the same way, back on the boat. Why didn't you?"

_Because it wouldn't have been true. _She thought, saying nothing.

"Or at the bar… why couldn't you have said something? Anything. Honestly, Robin, I respect your decision to stay with Kevin, I get it. But I thought I at least meant enough to you for you to have said, I don't know, four words to me? You didn't say four words." He took a shaky breath, standing in an attempt to distance himself from her. "I wish you would see that you're not the only one in this scenario."

Robin stared down into her drink, wanting, as she had before, only to run. Here he was, frustrated over the few words she had said before, and yet she couldn't seem to spit another out.

"I'm sorry." Barney added, sighing. "I'm not mad at you, okay. It's been a rough night, and it's okay. All of this is okay. It's just, I think I could've had a real future with Nora." _It wouldn't have compared to the one I might've had with you. _He added mentally. "I felt safe with her. I could've been happy. And I'm frustrated with myself, because despite that, somehow I don't regret sleeping with you, and I don't regret breaking up with her for you. I should, but I don't. I'm in love with you."

She looked up, "You love me?"

"I thought you might've guessed that by now."

"I didn't earlier." She thought out loud. "Barney, I know it doesn't seem this way, but I really wanted for things to work out between us. I wanted-I want-for us to be together. But I was scared because I'm not used to wanting anything real. And I know you aren't either. I was worried you would wake up tomorrow morning and regret everything. I didn't want to lose you."

"Robin, I would never-"Barney's voice softened. He stepped forward, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I was serious about us. I'm in love with you." He said again.

"I know." She replied softly, "I just didn't see it before. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay." He kissed her on the forehead before heading for the door.


	2. Chapter 2

_Why couldn't I say it? _She wondered the moment the door closed behind him. I love you. It wasn't that difficult, was it? And despite her stubbornness to admit it, she knew that it was true. The thought had passed through her head more times than she could count during their conversation.

A part of her wanted to call out after him, at the very least to tell him not to go just yet. But she remained silent, letting out a heavy sigh and heading for the kitchen to pour herself another well-needed scotch.

She spent a moment or so waiting, hoping that the door would open, knowing it was ridiculous and useless and that was it. Whatever chance she had was gone, for tonight anyways. And she supposed it was for the best, after all, nothing good ever did happen after 2am.

It was almost three.

* * *

Robin lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, trying desperately to fall asleep. It should've been easy. She had practically collapsed down on her mattress about an hour ago, her weak body crumpling into the duvet. The minutes felt long, the room was silent. The only exception was the quiet sound of the ticking clock.

_Tick. Tick. Tick._

She shut her eyes, taking in two deep, heavy breaths, trying to suppress all thoughts of earlier. Waking up, the previous morning, in his bed, hearing him say that it was what he wanted every morning to be like, running away, wishing she hadn't, his soft lips pressed against her forehead only about an hour ago… It had been one of the longest days of Robin's life.

_Tick. Tick. Tick._

She didn't want it to end. It didn't feel right this way. A day like this wasn't supposed to end with him walking out, telling her it was okay. Robin stared longingly at the phone, tempted to punch in his number.

_Tick. Tick. Tick._

She pulled herself from the bed, unable to take another minute of hearing nothing more than the sound of that damned clock, mixed in with her drunken thoughts. Robin was out of her apartment before her mind had caught up as to why. She found herself hailing a cab, climbing inside, with her thoughts so muddled all she knew with certainty was that rationality had nothing to do with a single one of them. His address fell out of her mouth before she bothered to stop herself.

Time rushed by the entire way there; somehow she managed to keep her mind occupied. It was when she ended up by the door to his apartment, hand ready to knock, that she snapped back to reality. The thoughts she had been trying to suppress overcame her. She tried to turn away, but for a moment it seemed that she, as well as time, was frozen.

It was one of the longest moments of the night.

The absolute longest, for Robin, had been earlier.

* * *

"You're almost as messed up as I am." Barney had answered her simply, yet honestly. She could see the near-desperate look in his eye. Robin was sure that she was the only one who could see it. Sure, the rest of the gang knew he wasn't always the emotionless, stoked-on-life player that he pretended to be. But she was the only one who understood, who saw him for all of who he was, and loved him for it.

And she did love him. "Cared about him as a friend" didn't cut it. No. Robin Scherbatsky was hopelessly, irretrievably in love with him.

The feelings were mutual. It had taken her until that precise moment for it to really sink in. He knew her, and he loved her, for all of who she was.

It terrified her.

Robin offered nothing in return other than a weak smile.

* * *

Her hand came to meet the door, which then opened a lot quicker than it should have.

_It's after four. _Barney probably should have said. "Hi."

"Hi."

There was a silence that was not in the least bit awkward. It was the first moment that day that was long because they wanted it to last. They just looked at each other, with love and lust and relief. Barney had been lying awake, thinking about calling her since he had arrived home after leaving her apartment. Robin was just shocked that he had actually opened the door. She wanted to kiss him, but she knew she had to come clean first.

"I love you" is all she wanted to say, but the words refused to come out. Instead, she rushed over to his couch, falling deeply into the leather cushion.

"You think there'd be anything on TV at this hour?" Robin asked casually, reaching for the remote.

"I doubt it, but you can check anyway." He laughed a little. "Don't you have a TV at your place?"

"Not one that takes up an entire wall." She responded, refusing to pull her eyes away from the screen.

_At four in the morning? _He almost asked her, but stopped himself; he didn't want to give her an opportunity to ask why he had obviously already been awake.

It took about twenty, idle minutes of flipping through the same programs, none of which either of them ever cared to see, over and over, barely stopping on each one long enough to see what it was, before Robin hit the power button.

"What are we doing?" She sighed after a moment. "I mean, what am _I _doing? Because you came through for me; you ended your relationship with Nora, you left all those rose petals…" her voice trailed off.

"Robin," Barney turned to her, "it's okay. Really."

"You always come through for me." It had taken Robin ages to come to that conclusion, but she knew it was true. Maybe it just wasn't in the big, monumental ways that belonged in those ridiculous romance flicks she always caught Ted watching. She didn't care for those kind of things anyway. Barney came through for her in much more genuine ways. He always did these little things: sending her on the Super Date he wished he had given to her earlier, getting her back on her feet when Don left her for Chicago. He was the one who pulled them together in the first place. Robin remembered how terrified she had been, burying her feelings beneath more lies than she could count. He had been scared too, but was always so willing to take that leap with her. That was the biggest way he had come through for her, the biggest way that anyone had ever come through for her.

"I don't-"

"Always." She stopped him. "And I just keep running away from this. Then I run back, only to run away again, and then, here I am." Robin glanced around at his apartment, missing the time when she would find her way here almost every night, when she could kiss him and sleep with him freely, without all this extra confusion. She hated this part. "I'm tired of running, tired of putting myself through this shit. I'm tired of putting you through it all too. You always come through for me." She repeated. "So, now, I think that it's my turn."

She took a deep breath, trying to pull herself together enough to finally come clean. "I don't regret sleeping with you." Robin admitted. "I should, but I don't. Just like I don't love Kevin." _I love you. _slipped through her mind. She ignored it. "This whole thing has been so unfair to him, and yet he's been the furthest from my mind. I guess that makes me a horrible person."

"You're not." He said quickly, reaching to place a gentle hand on her arm.

"I hurt you too, you know? I'm sorry. It just took me so long to catch up. I'm such a mess."

"Well," Barney said a few seconds later, "for what it's worth, so am I."

"Yeah, I guess you are." She turned to him, straightening his tie and leaving her hand behind to pull him a bit closer. "A really, really hot one, but still a mess."

"Then that makes two of us." He could tell what she was doing, but wasn't about to try and resist. He leaned in further.

Their lips touched, their exhaustion seeming to ever so briefly escape them as they were pulled back to the night before. It had been fierce and passionate. Unforgettable. No matter how much time they spent apart, or, in their case as two commitment-phobes, together, the magic never seemed to fade.

"I'm breaking up with Kevin tomorrow." Robin said quietly, immediately after pulling away. "I mean, whether or not you still want to do… whatever this is between us, because I'd understand if you're done with me after-"

He shook his head. "I'm never done with you, Robin."

"Good." She smiled with relief, "because I'd much rather be a mess with you than be a mess without you. I'm going to break up with him tomorrow. I want to do this right."

"For real?" Barney asked, hand still behind her neck, buried in her hair.

"For real." She answered, nodding softly.


End file.
